Help sought on historical find

A LOCAL historical society is calling on anyone with information on a framed pennant to get in touch, as it seeks information on the find.

The Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society recently uncovered a pennant bearing the emblem of KEIO University in its collection, and has no idea how it got there.

The Historical Society’s president, John Spain, asked that anyone who might know more about the pennant contact the Historical Society.

“All we know is that it was issued by the KEIO University, the oldest Western university in Japan. KEIO University is located in Tokyo,” Mr Spain said.

“We don’t know how old it is, but its pristine condition might indicate that it is not older than, say, the late 20th century.

“There are no markings or inscriptions on the pennant or on the framing. The framing is of excellent quality. We do not know whether the pennant was framed by the University or the recipient.

“This type of pennant is often given by an organisation to distinguished visitors or guest speakers at a function.”

The Historical Society believes someone from Bacchus Marsh visited KEIO University in the past, and received the pennant as a gift, before donating it to the Historical Society.

“We are continuing to search our hand-written acquisition records and we will contact KEIO University to see if they can assist our enquiries,” Mr Spain said.

“We are also searching newspaper records for an article that might have described a local delegation to Japan.”

To contact the Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society, send an email to [email protected], or call 0493 573 530.